A couple of years ago I started looking into vintage jewelry. Why do I like vintage jewelry? I enjoy the provenance that comes with each piece, the fact that each one has a story to tell through its prior ownership and design. As you focus on the hallmarks, the metals and gemstones, each piece unfolds the full extent of its beauty and becomes more unique with time. In the jewelry industry, there is a long-held axiom that vintage is any piece more than 50 years old, but now a growing consensus says vintage starts after 20 years.
ACAMS Today is turning 20. I agree with the growing jewelry-world consensus that it should be considered vintage. A publication made unique through the many efforts and contributions of members worldwide. Unlike the vintage jewelry industry, however, ACAMS Today continues to evolve. ACAMS Today takes both the past and the present and combines the wealth of knowledge provided by many of our pioneers in the industry and our more seasoned professionals and pairs it with bright and emerging professionals who are adding their energy and fresh ideas to the anti-financial crime (AFC) community.
ACAMS Today has a rich history of bringing cutting-edge articles to the ACAMS’ membership and the AFC community at large. As you will see throughout the pages of the 20th-year anniversary edition, ACAMS Today has taken the lessons learned and merged them with new ideas and technologies, providing our readership with an opportunity to learn from the past and to evolve with new challenges, new ideas, new technologies and stay one step ahead of criminals.
One such article is our cover story: “Project Hades: Dark web revealed.” The authors illustrate how many professionals came together during a dark webathon to identify predators within the dark web and save innocent lives from these predators. This article is a fresh take on what can be done to continue the fight against human trafficking (HT) and child exploitation while keeping current on new technologies. Other topics of interest in this edition extend from the convergence of environmental, social and governance (ESG) and anti-money laundering (AML), the history of casinos becoming financial institutions, understanding the opportunities and risks of decentralized finance (DeFi) to articles on green compliance and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
You will also notice that the ACAMS Today magazine looks slightly different than in the past. We have spruced up our design and in conjunction with the 20-year anniversary, we are unveiling a new one. We hope you will continue to enjoy reading us in print and/or online.
What’s more, I would like to invite you to peruse our pages and revel in the articles celebrating our 20-year anniversary, from the voices of veterans to the emerging voices to chapter historical highlights to favorite covers and quotes—all related to AFC.
Congratulations to ACAMS Today , ACAMS, ACAMS’ members, ACAMS Today editorial, ACAMS’ staff and the many AFC professionals who continue to incorporate the vintage ideas along with the new emerging ones to fight the criminals.
Hear, hear! To another 20 years!
Karla Monterrosa-Yancey, CAMS
Editor-in-Chief
Follow us on Twitter: @acamstoday
